Hominid (11 page)

From the blog
Bigfoot Among Us
by Dr. Tess Brannick

This week’s question comes from Shawn Tidley of Portland, Oregon. Shawn writes:

What is the difference between bigfoot and sasquatch?

Short answer: Nothing. :)

Long answer: There are actually more than sixty names for bigfoot across North American tribes alone. The name “sasquatch” was coined by Canadian journalist J. W. Burns in the 1920s. It comes from the word Sésquac—a Halkomelem word used by the Coast Salish Indians of Canada, meaning “wild man.”

The term “bigfoot” didn’t enter the common vernacular until the Gerry Crew incident in the 1950s. Gerry Crew was part of a construction group laying road through Humboldt County, California. He found these giant footprints around the equipment in the morning, and sometimes he found that huge pieces of machinery had been tossed. The
Humboldt Times
of Eureka, California got hold of the story and photographed Crew with a cast of a sixteen-inch footprint and used the term bigfoot for the creature. And the bigfoot fascination of the modern era began!

CHAPTER 30

F
or the next few weeks, Tess met Charlie every day, except weekends. And each time, she learned a little more about his physiology. Unlike gorillas, he had no protruding belly—a characteristic of a herbivore—which meant he was most likely an omnivore, eating both meat and plants.

At first glance his feet appeared to be very large human feet, but a closer comparison made the differences clear. Proportionally, Charlie’s feet were much wider than a human’s. The average male human’s foot is just under eleven inches—although some feet can be noticeably larger—but the foot tends to narrow at the arch. Bigfoot feet, by comparison, are extremely wide and have no arch. In addition, the toes are proportionally much longer than those on a human foot.

His hands were different, too. They were incredibly large, of course, but they also had webbing between the fingers. Tess was surprised to find that he had no opposable thumbs. For some reason she had expected to see them. Opposable thumbs were what allowed for fine motor movement, and most scientists agreed that it was one of the most critical factors in the development of tools.

Tess studied all these physical traits while she sat next to Charlie rambling on about nothing. Charlie didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to enjoy her company. Each day he stayed a little longer.

So one day, Tess decided to try the camera. Charlie was wandering around the camp, inspecting Tess’s stuff, and she was staying out of his way and letting him.
Ha, letting him. Like I could stop him.

While he was looking at her tent, she pulled her camera out of her bag. She took a breath, then waited until he turned. She held the camera up for him to see. “Would it be okay—”

He lunged across the short distance and smacked the camera out of her hand. Then he stomped on it and let out a scream.

Tess stumbled back, tripping over her own feet in her haste. Charlie stood towering over her. Tess stared at the ground, her hands covering her head, waiting for the blow. She could hear his breath. His feet were only inches from her.

Oh, God.

Seconds passed that felt like hours.

Finally, he turned and walked away.

Tess lifted her head. He was gone. Her heart pounded and her breath came out in gasps. She shook like she was having a seizure.
Oh my God. Oh my God.

CHAPTER 31

T
hat night Tess lay curled up on her couch, Shelby at her side. She had planned on meeting up with Sasha and Abby for a girls’ night out, but after today she’d called and begged off, claiming a headache.

She wasn’t sure what to do. After Charlie left, she had shook for what felt like hours. And on the walk home, she had jumped at every sound in the forest. Even now, the thought of him lunging at her sent her heart racing.

She ran her hand through Shelby’s fur. “What am I going to do, girl?”

Shelby gave her a tired wag.

Dev wasn’t coming over tonight, and for the first time, Tess was glad for that. She hadn’t told anyone except Madge about her encounters. For some reason, she felt like telling would be a violation. Although right now, that seemed awfully stupid. Still, she didn’t want to tell Dev tonight—not when she was still so upset.

Continuing to rub Shelby, Tess struggled with what her next step was going to be. Obviously, she had violated the rules of their interaction. She began to shake again when she recalled him towering over her—and that scream. She let out a stuttering breath.

Shelby raised her head, tilting it to the side. Tess reached down and hugged her. “I’m okay, girl.”

But am I?
She worried she’d blown all the progress they’d made. And at the same time, she wasn’t sure she could bring herself to go back there again. The moment he had moved toward her, Tess had been sure her life was over. And that moment brought into crystal clarity how defenseless she was against him. If he wanted to hurt her, there was nothing she could do. She had been humanizing him, she realized that. She needed to remember that he was an animal, no matter how human he looked.

But she also knew she had no proof. She had nothing on film, no hairs, no DNA. Her interactions at this point were just a long drawn-out witness account. If she closed up shop now, she’d have nothing to show for her time. But if she didn’t…

Tess sighed. If she didn’t, she could find herself back in that situation again. Or worse. Was it really worth it?

She stared at the dying fire in the fireplace, but no answers magically appeared.

Ever since her father had died, she’d been obsessed with finding the thing in the woods that had helped her and her brother escape. Hadn’t she done that? Wasn’t her mission now over?

Her phone rang, and Tess picked it up without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”

“Good evening, Dr. Brannick. I hope I’m not intruding.”

Tess straightened her back. “Um, no, no, of course not, Mr. Hayes.”

“Thaddeus tells me that your reports have been rather anemic as of late.”

Tess scrambled for something to say. She hadn’t mentioned anything in her reports about Charlie. In fact, her reports had barely changed. “Um, yes, but my food supplies are consistently disappearing—at least those not near the cameras.”

Hayes interrupted. “Yes. Why do you think that is?”

“Well, there’s some research that indicates that animals are able to pick up frequencies that we can’t—perhaps cameras are emitting those frequencies. And all animals have a well-developed sense of self-preservation. I’m thinking perhaps it recognizes that something is out of place and it avoids those areas.”

“Hmm. Is there a way to overcome that problem?”

“There are some newer field cameras on the market which may work. You can hide them in decoy animals, add some scents to further disguise them.”

“Excellent. And I want to remind you, Dr. Brannick, what an incredible service you would be doing, not only for your career but for mankind, if you succeed in this endeavor. The things we could learn. Well, it’s really impossible to imagine, isn’t it? Their immune systems alone could alleviate untold human suffering. Your work may be considered on the fringe by some, but I assure you, I view it as critical for our future.”

“Yes, Mr. Hayes. Thank you.”

“Well, enjoy the rest of your evening, Dr. Brannick. I look forward to hearing of your progress in the weeks to come.”

CHAPTER 32

Scottsdale, Arizona

C
arter hung up the phone and swiveled his chair to look at the view behind him. His office overlooked the lush industrial park that held offices for all the corporations he had acquired. To date there were twenty-two. Three more were scheduled for construction before the end of the year. Normally, the view gave him a sense of satisfaction. Today he was decidedly dissatisfied.

There had been nothing new in Tess’s last two reports—which normally wasn’t a problem. But there had been something in her voice…

He drummed his hands on the side of his chair. His gut told him that something had changed. Turning back to the desk, he hit the intercom button on his phone.

“Sir?” Thaddeus asked.

“Get me Abe.”

“Right away, sir.”

A few seconds later, Thaddeus’s voice rang out again. “Abe is on line one, sir.”

Carter hit the lit button on the phone and picked up the receiver. “Abe. How are you?”

Abe Cascione’s thick Bronx accent filled the room, causing Carter to grimace. “I’m good. How are you?”

“Fine. But I think I may have a little problem that I’m going to need your help with. You received the file on Dr. Tess Brannick?”

“Yup. Was just looking it over.”

“Well, I’m going to need you to do a deep background. Find out if there are any secrets hidden in her closets, any buttons that can be pushed.”

“No problem. Anything in particular you’re expecting to find?”

Carter paused. “I’m not sure. But she’s received a hefty sum from us, and I have the feeling she’s not being entirely forthcoming. I’d like some leverage if I need it.”

“I have to say she looks pretty clean from what I’ve seen. But I’ll check and see if there’s anything. And even if there isn’t, there
are
other ways to get the information from her.”

Carter sighed. Abe always preferred the violent method of extraction. Carter wasn’t morally opposed to it himself, but it could become a bit of a legal headache. And there had been a time or two when Abe had enjoyed his work a little too much.

“That’s still on the table,” Carter said, “but let’s see what the background reveals first. We’ll go from there.”

“Will do.” Abe disconnected the call.

Carter once again swiveled to look at the setting sun. But his thoughts were on Tess Brannick. She was a smart woman. But she had made an unwise decision.

You shouldn’t keep things from me, Dr. Brannick. That is not a healthy endeavor.

CHAPTER 33

B
y the next morning, Tess had decided she’d go back to her camp. Still, she strapped her Browning into a holster at her waist, and she brought her shotgun instead of her rifle. She wasn’t sure any of that would make a difference, but she felt better having them.

Before Tess went to the camp itself, she went through the normal routine: dropping the food, checking the cameras, doing a walk around for any signs. But this morning, she was taking longer than normal. She knew she was stalling.
Suck it up, Brannick
, she told herself.
You chose to study a giant primate, not little fluffy bunnies. A little bit of fear comes with the territory.

Squaring her shoulders, she headed for her camp. She paused on the edge of it. Nothing looked disturbed. The forest was giving off its normal sounds. Everything was as it always was. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed.

She thought about working on her paper; she’d brought a printout of it with her. When she had thought back over her interactions with Charlie, she’d realized he never showed up when she was using technology—and after the camera incident, she thought it better to be safe than sorry. So all technology was off limits—except her sat phone. That she kept with her.

But she was too restless to concentrate on the paper. So instead she pulled out her sketchpad and began to draw. The image of Charlie gradually appeared on the page in front of her. She had tried to sketch him before, but those had been more scientific drawings, trying to capture his build and musculature. Now she was just drawing his face.

She shaded in his hair and tilted her head, inspecting her work. It was actually a pretty good likeness.

When she looked up, her heart slammed to a stop. Charlie was only six feet away. She’d often been amazed by his silent approaches, but he’d never made it this close without her sensing him. She knew that humans could learn to approach others in complete silence—Apache warriors, for instance, had been known for being able to touch their victims before they even knew they were there—but the fact that Charlie, at almost nine feet and at least eight hundred pounds, was able to be just as stealthy… it was absolutely mind-blowing.

He gestured to the bag where she kept the food.

Hastily, Tess closing the sketchpad, in case Charlie didn’t like his likeness being captured, and placed it on the table. She stood up, not happy at how hard her heart was hammering. “Um, sure, okay.”

She went over to the bag, and Charlie took his usual seat on the log. Tess walked slowly toward him and placed the food on the ground within his reach. Then she sat on the other side of the log and tried to pretend this was just like every other time he had visited—and that she wasn’t completely terrified.

Charlie ate one apple. Then he stopped and just sat quietly on his side of the log, his eyes closed. Tess thought he might have even fallen asleep. She got up and retrieved her sketchbook, then returned to the log and sat on the ground, her back against it. She began to sketch the bear and her two cubs. Charlie watched her out of the corner of his eye for a few seconds before closing them again. Tess got lost in capturing the cubs, and when she looked up again, Charlie was gone.

She let out a breath. She’d done it—faced her fear, remained objective, approached the issue clinically. Bigfoot was an incredible creature, but he was without a doubt an animal. Any thoughts beyond that, and she would be veering way off the scientific track. And she had no intention of doing that.

She stood up and dusted off her pants, then paused. A single apple sat on the log. He had left it for her. She knew that in the animal kingdom, animals provided sustenance to other animals they felt were worthy of surviving.

But another part of her wondered.
What if it’s more than that?
She knew she was humanizing the action, but it still felt an awful lot like an apology.

She stood up and dusted off her pants. No. Even Shelby did things that could be construed as human—looking sorry, happy, showing emotions.